Tuesday, May 23, 2006

How to Cure and Smoke Bacon

Q:Do you have any bacon curing and smoking recipies? I am going to butcher a few hogs this weekend and would like to cure and smoke my own bacon. Any info would be much appreciated.

A: Here is some instructions that were posted at SmokingMeatForums.com on how to cure bacon by Dacdots (David):

OK,I take it you bought Morton's Tender Quick cure.

First, completely thaw the meat in the refridgerator.The meat must be between 36 and 40 degrees for the cure to take.

When your ready get the meat out and rub it down with the cure,really lay it on thick getting it up into the bone end real good.Same with the bacons,rub both sides down good.

Put the meat back in the fridge and keep it at 36 to 40 deg.You need to keep a thermometer in the fridge and regultae the temps as close as you can.After about four days rub the meat down again with more cure,but lightly this time.Now this is gonna take a good bit of cure so be prepared to buy a few bags of cure.After seven or ten days in the cure your meat will be ready to smoke.

Take it out,lay the hams and bacons one at a time in the sink and with warm water and a stiff brush give it a good scrub.This removes all the surface salt.Rinse the meat well and hang up to dry in a good warm place.When the meat is dry to touch move it into a pre heated smoker.100 to 120 degrees.Introduce your smoke and continue at this temp for at least 16 hours,more if you have the time.

During the first eight hours have your damper wide open to let moisture escape.After 8 hours close your damper to half open and continue smoking.

You will see the meat turning a dark reddish brown,this is good it means your taking smoke.After 16 or more hours increase temps to 175 deg and cook until internal temp of the ham and bacon reaches 160 degrees.

Remove the meat and let hang at room temp for 8 hours.Your ham and bacon is ready.If you want to keep the meat for any length of time you must refreez it.I wrap mine in parchment paper to absorb any greasr,then plastic wrap,then freezer paper and put into the freezer.Its best if you can slice your bacon before freezing it.

Now there are as many different ways of curing and smoking bacons and hams as there is in any other operation.This method I have explained will work for you.I suggest that you do a lot of research on this matter as you can find cause I cant explain it all to you.It took me several tries before I got the product I was looking for.Click here to go to the original post

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